Mercy Warren Poems

Mercy Otis Warren was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, where she lived until 1754, when she married James Warren and moved to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Her husband and her brother James Otis were both involved in local politics, and their home became a place for revolutionary meetings.

Mercy played her part in suporting the revolution in 1772 with the publication of her play The Adulateur, the first in a long line of similar propagandistic pieces published anonymously.

Warren continued to write and publish after the war, issuing a volume of poetry under her own name in 1790 Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneousand and in 1805 publishing her three-volume History of the ... more »

Woman's Trifling Needs

AN inventory clear of all she needs Lamira offers here; Nor does she fear a rigid Cato's frown When she lays by the rich embroidered gown, And modestly compounds for just enough- Perhaps, some dozens of more flighty stuff; With lawns and lustrings, blond, and Mechlin laces, Fringes and jewels, fans and tweezer-cases; memory Gay cloaks, and hats of every shape and size, Scarfs, cardinals, and ribbons of all dyes; With ruffles stamped, and aprons of tambour, Tippets and handkerchiefs, at least three score; With finest muslins that fair India boasts, And the choice herbage from Chinesan coasts; ...